Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, wants to develop legislation that could affect how insurers and other financial institutions address their historical involvement in slavery.
Green and other lawmakers talked about ideas for legislation related to slavery during a recent hearing of the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee on the role of financial institutions in the horrors of slavery.
Green, the subcommittee chair, posted a draft of a racial equity audit bill on the hearing website.
The bill would require issuers of publicly traded securities to carry out a racial equity audit every two years.
During the hearing, Green described the bill as a placeholder for future legislation that might require financial institutions to create atonement plans.
Green recalled that, at an earlier subcommittee on financial institutions’ role in U.S. slavery, he asked bank executives present whether their organizations would commit to preparing atonement plans.